


Driving Down Memory Lane

by alchemicink



Category: Hey! Say! JUMP
Genre: Flashbacks, Gen, Happy Birthday, Road Trips, Takaki is a diva about his car just like he's a diva about his hair, Takaki/Car OTP, appearances from everyone else, buckle up for safety, fluff-ish
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-19
Updated: 2015-06-19
Packaged: 2018-04-05 02:55:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,115
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4162998
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alchemicink/pseuds/alchemicink
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Never once had Takaki regretted the decision to buy his convertible.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Driving Down Memory Lane

**Author's Note:**

  * For [incandescence](https://archiveofourown.org/users/incandescence/gifts).



> I said I'd write any request for Sheryl's birthday, and all she said was "Takaki/Car"   
> SO I GIVE YOU TAKAKI/CAR. LOL I don't actually know anything about Takaki's car other than he said it's a convertible on his radio show once.
> 
> Warnings for probably confusing flashbacks, two whole seconds of Hikaru smoking, Chinen being a brat, probably inaccurate representation of Japanese gas stations, people refusing to wear seat belts, and some really really really lame puns.
> 
> HAPPY (late) BIRTHDAY SHERYL. PLEASE ENJOY. <3

Never once had Takaki regretted the decision to buy his convertible. Not even when the down payment forced him to live off of cup noodles for three solid months. His first car had been a hand-me-down from his older sister. It always felt too cramped and also made an obnoxiously loud knocking noise whenever he put it in reverse. The convertible had been an upgrade in every sense of the word, and he didn’t hesitate to buy it once the transmission died in the old car. 

As it so happened, this particular day marked the three year anniversary of buying the convertible and he conveniently had the day off from work. So he decided to go for a drive. The sun was bright and reflected off of the hood of the car in a dazzling array of light. He squinted his eyes long enough to put on his sunglasses, and then he hopped into the car. It didn’t take long to get the top down and then he was ready to go, hitting the accelerator and backing out of the driveway into a new adventure. 

He began his trip navigating through crowded city streets, following the confusing path of one-way signs and traffic signals. Years of driving meant that he was familiar with these roads and knew where to turn and which shortcuts to take. But he couldn’t help but laugh as a memory popped into his head of a time when he was terribly lost in the city. Daiki had been with him and they were desperately trying to get to the radio station to record their weekly show…

 

“You’re going to get us fired from our job after only two months,” Daiki complained as he craned his neck around, looking for something familiar. He impatiently tapped his fingers against the dashboard until Takaki shooed his twitchy fingers away. 

“We’re not gonna get fired. I’m sure we’re almost there.” The two of them had eaten dinner together earlier so they weren’t exactly sure how to get to the radio station from the restaurant. “We’re just taking the scenic route.” 

“Scenic route?” Daiki scoffed. “I’m pretty sure if we had stopped at that traffic light back there,” he paused to jab his thumb over his shoulder for emphasis, “those guys on the street corner would have robbed us.”

“They would not have.” If Takaki’s eyes weren’t focused on the road, he would have rolled them.

Daiki raised his eyebrows with a skeptical look in return. “You know it’s pretty easy to just jump into a convertible right?” 

“And it’s pretty easy to just jump out too.” Takaki took his eyes off the road long enough to give Daiki a pointed look for his complaints. When he faced forward again, he caught the familiar sight of their destination. “See? There it is. Everything’s fine.” 

“Thank goodness,” Daiki exclaimed. He was already unbuckling his seat belt as Takaki slid into a parking space. 

“On the bright side,” Takaki said as he shifted gears into park and killed the ignition. The engine hum quickly faded out. “This can be a great story to tell during the radio show.”

“Let’s not mention it.” Daiki was already halfway to the entrance, still anxious about the time crunch. 

Takaki smiled and patted the side mirror of the car like he was patting someone on the back. “Good job,” he said to his car. 

Suddenly, Daiki was back, had him by the sleeve and was dragging him towards the building. “You can whisper sweet nothings to the car later. It’s time for work.” 

“Goodbye my love,” Takaki called out to the convertible just to keep annoying Daiki…

 

Every now and then if Daiki was worried about being late for something, Takaki still teased him a bit about that time. As he continued on his journey, Takaki hit the brakes and slowed his speed down a little now that he had made it to the residential part of the city where the roads were less confusing than before. He passed by houses and apartment complexes, and he made sure to watch out for people crossing and playing in the road. He had unexpectedly been in this area just last week actually. After their magazine photoshoot for the day was over, he’d been somehow roped into taking a few of his coworkers home that day…

 

“Hey Yuuuuuuyaaaaaan,” Chinen’s voice rang out in a sly tone. Takaki had just stepped into the parking lot, but turned to see his younger bandmate giving him a familiar look. One that usually resulted in messing up his scheduled plans or making his wallet considerably lighter than before. Sometimes both. Of course, Takaki always said yes because in all honesty, he didn’t mind helping out his friend and it was almost impossible to say no to Chinen.

“Yes?” He hoped this wasn’t one of those things that involved his wallet though.

Chinen easily weaved through the other cars in the parking lot and glanced not-so-subtly at Takaki’s convertible. “So I just found out the trains are delayed and I need you to drive me home. Please?” He batted his eyelashes in an attempt to look more like an innocent baby deer. 

Takaki knew better than to assume that Chinen was anything close to a helpless woodland creature, but the request was doable at least. “Sure, that’s fine.” Even though Chinen lived on the opposite direction of his own house.

“Can we have a ride too?” 

Takaki turned around again and was bombarded with two more bandmates: Yuto and Keito. Yuto was attempting to make the same face as Chinen but only half-succeeding. He looked less _baby deer_ and maybe more like _awkward teenage deer_ or something. Takaki frowned because Yuto lived in a different direction entirely and Keito lived the farthest away from them all, but he agreed once Yuto added that Keito was hanging out at his place for the night.

“I’m showing Keito the wonders of _Star Wars_ ,” Yuto explained with excitement.

“But haven’t you already seen—”

“Shh,” Keito hushed Chinen. “He’s really excited about it.”

“Just get in the car,” Takaki waved his arms to usher them all to the convertible. They’d never get anywhere if they stood in the parking lot all afternoon.

“I call shotgun,” Chinen shouted and rushed for the front seat as if he was sprinting the last few meters of a marathon. 

Yuto reached for Chinen’s arm to slow him down, “Hey, I wanted to sit there.” But Keito stopped him before his fingers connected to Chinen’s sleeve, narrowly averting certain disaster. 

“That’s a battle you’ll probably lose,” Keito said and gently guided Yuto to the backseat with him. Chinen turned around and gave them both a smirk from the passenger seat. 

Takaki pulled out of the parking lot and headed towards the direction of Chinen’s house first. It had been a while since he’d had so many people in his car at once, but he appreciated the nice feeling. The four of them started talking about random things as the wind whipped through their hair and around their faces, a not-so-subtle reminder that they were still connected to the outside world even if they were sitting in the protective bubble of his car.

When they stopped at one of the traffic lights, Chinen announced that he was hungry while he brushed stray strands of hair out of his eyes. “Let’s pick up something while we’re out.” 

“Pizza!” Yuto suggested. 

“I sorta want chicken wings,” Keito added. 

“There will be no eating in my car,” Takaki insisted in a stern voice. “You’ll leave crumbs and greasy fingerprints.”

Yuto leaned forward in the gap between Takaki and Chinen’s seats and stretched his arm out. “My fingers aren’t greasy. See?” 

Takaki pushed Yuto’s hand out of his line of sight. “No food in my car,” he repeated with more emphasis this time. “Are you even wearing a seat belt? Put your seat belt on.” 

“Yeah, that’s dangerous,” Chinen said, and turned halfway around to push Yuto back to his seat.

Takaki glanced over to Chinen and saw he wasn’t wearing a seat belt either. “Hey, put yours on too! Are you all five years old?” He glanced in his rearview mirror to check on Keito and was pleased to see him sitting quietly with his seatbelt buckled neatly, twiddling his thumbs with boredom and gazing out the window. He decided Keito was his new favorite person. 

Meanwhile, Chinen and Yuto’s mini-argument had devolved into the two of them childishly slapping each other’s arms. They still hadn’t buckled up.

“Yuuuuuuuuyaaaaaaan,” Chinen whined. “Yutti is touching me.” 

With that declaration, Yuto immediately withdrew his hands and just hovered with his fingers pointing at Chinen but not making contact. “I’m not touching you. I’m not touching you,” he goaded, sounding every bit like a five year old kid.

“Don’t make me pull this car over,” Takaki threatened. They were worse than his nephews. “And put your seat belts on!”

“Are we there yet?” Keito asked, finally speaking up again. Takaki decided that Keito was no longer his favorite anymore.

“I’m never taking you guys home ever again,” Takaki muttered to himself even though he knew that wasn’t true…

 

Looking back on it now, Takaki laughed. In the end, he had convinced them to wear seat belts and they did actually stop to eat pizza (inside a restaurant though, not in his car). By now, he had left the houses behind and was out on the open highway. The engine roared as he picked up speed. There was something comforting about that sound, and he loved it. The increase in speed meant that the wind was doing terrible things to his hair, but his car was the only place where he didn’t mind it so much. 

The highway stretched out before him full of opportunities and large signs that pointed the way to anywhere. He just randomly picked a cool-sounding destination and continued following all the signs for it. This is how his road trips usually went and they always turned out well for the most part. Takaki continued to follow the signs’ directions and turned onto a different highway with less traffic than before. His mind wandered again, as it did on long stretches of road, and he thought about the first time he’d taken his convertible on the highway, not long after he’d just bought it…

 

Yabu was reading out road names and business names as they drove by. Once he’d heard about Takaki’s new car, he asked if Takaki would give him a ride in his “super fancy convertible.” So he picked Yabu up early on a morning when they had the day off from work. He’d been waiting on the curb with his thumb out like an eager hitchhiker. “I don’t pick up hitchhikers,” Takaki had joked when he pulled up, but Yabu just grinned and jumped in the car with a cheeky “too bad.” 

They didn’t have any destination in mind, just a cruise around the highway towards the coast maybe. Once Yabu had run out of interesting signs to read out loud, he began talking about soccer, and Takaki happily listened even though he knew nothing about the sport. 

“So how do you like the car?” Yabu asked when he (surprisingly) ran out of soccer things to talk about too. 

“I love it,” Takaki answered. He took one hand off of the steering wheel for a moment to lovingly pat the dashboard. “But I’m still getting used to everything like the brakes and stuff, you know.”

“Oh I know,” Yabu chuckled. Takaki had hit the brakes a little too hard earlier at a stop sign and the momentum had caused Yabu to jerk forward and lose his concentration on what he was saying. 

“But the engine runs nice and smoothly and there are good treads on the tires and—”

“And the seats are comfy!” 

“Yeah,” Takaki agreed with a silly smile, “the seats are very comfy. That’s super important.” 

Yabu stretched his arms straight up in the air as far as he could reach, which was a nice benefit of a car without a roof. “It’s so comfy, I could kick my feet up on the dash and take a nap right now.”

“No dirty feet on the dash,” Takaki said, glancing sideways at Yabu just in case he made a move on his shiny, just-polished-yesterday dashboard. His sister’s old car had been a mess and he wasn’t going to let his own get that bad. 

“What if I took my shoes off?” 

“Nooooo,” Takaki repeated, feeling a bit amused at his persistence. “And I didn’t pick you up so you could just sleep in my car.” They were still out on the open highway, but had run into some heavier traffic that slowed them down. 

“Eh, I’m not really going to sleep.” Yabu’s face quickly transformed into his trademark grin that made his eyes disappear. “If I did, then I would miss out on this cool car ride.” He leaned forward to reach for the center of the dash. “So how well does your radio work…”

 

With the memory on his mind, Takaki switched the radio on now and fiddled with it until he found a station with good music. He realized that it had been a while since he’d had the chance to cruise around with Yabu since the other guy had been busy with the Takizawa Kabuki stage show lately. He promised himself he’d call his bandmate up soon to make plans. He was sure there had to be something exciting going on in the world of soccer for Yabu to tell him about. 

A quick check of his gas gauge told him that he might want to stop for gas soon since he wasn’t sure how far he was going to drive today. He could see a gas station up ahead so he exited the highway and pulled right up to the pump. Since he was feeling so nostalgic today, his mind immediately drifted towards a memory at a different gas station…

 

Takaki wasn’t quite sure how he’d gotten roped into driving Inoo and Hikaru around but he guessed maybe he was just the kind of guy who couldn’t say no if someone needed a lift. Or maybe everyone just really liked his convertible way too much. That had to be the only explanation for why he was driving his bandmates to the mall when they were perfectly capable of using their own vehicles or public transportation. 

“Can we take a bathroom break?” Inoo asked. 

Takaki was about to point out that their destination wasn’t much further when he noticed that he was dangerously low on fuel. But Inoo grimaced as Takaki pulled into the nearest gas station parking lot. “This place looks sketchy. What if I get murdered in the bathroom here?” 

“We’ll say nice things at your funeral,” Hikaru said and laughed. 

“Just try to go really fast,” Takaki suggested.

Inoo disappeared inside the convenience store with a concerned look while Takaki got out to fill up the gas tank. Hikaru stayed seated and pulled out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. 

“Hey, no smoking in the car. Or near the car.” Takaki gave Hikaru an _are-you-crazy_ look. “You realize you are next to a large amount of flammable liquid, right? If you blow up my car, I’ll never forgive you.” 

Hikaru laughed but moved far enough away so that he wasn’t close to any of the gas pumps. “You’re so dramatic,” he teased. 

Takaki patted the side of his car and admired the sparkly clean paint job. “This is my baby.” 

With a smirk on his face, Hikaru removed his cigarette and put it out even though it was only halfway done. “Well, I don’t want to be the _third wheel_ here,” he teased. He remained where he was standing, waiting for the smell of cigarette smoke to dissipate as much as possible. 

Takaki ignored his dumb joke (because honestly it was kind of true). But Hikaru kept going. “Now don’t get all your _gears_ twisted. I’m just joking,” he said and laughed. 

This time Takaki rolled his eyes. Once Hikaru started punning, there was no stopping him. 

“Actually you’re setting a good example and _steering_ us all in the right direction.”

The tank was filled up now, so Takaki closed the gas cap up and took his receipt from the machine. He wondered how long it would take for Hikaru to run out of lame car-related puns. 

Inoo returned from inside the convenience store with an ice cream sandwich in his hand. Hikaru decided that he was finally smoke-free enough to be able to get back in the car and quickly settled into his seat. But Takaki wouldn’t let Inoo get in with his ice cream. “No food in the car,” he reminded them like he reminded everyone.

“Yeah,” Hikaru agreed, “you’ll just have to shove it all in your… trunk… right now…” He’d started that sentence off confidently but then trailed off at the end. Takaki and Inoo both stared at him in confusion. He scowled. “When you improvise a pun, it doesn’t always turn out quite right.” 

Finally, Inoo just shrugged and somehow managed to fit the whole ice cream sandwich in his mouth at once. Then he got back into the convertible like it was a perfectly normal thing to do. They waited for a moment (or five) for Inoo to chew and swallow before asking him if the bathroom inside was really as sketchy as he thought it would be. 

Inoo nodded very seriously. “Yes, it looked like the perfect place to commit a murder _and_ hide the body because I’m sure no one ever goes in there to clean.” 

Takaki left the gas station and merged back into the highway traffic. “I bet it was disgusting enough to _drive_ you crazy,” he said, feeling satisfied with a lame joke of his own. He held up his hand for a high-five from Hikaru but the other boy just gave him a disgusted face in response. 

“Never go for the most obvious pun. That’s rule number one. Honestly, poorly constructed jokes just _tire_ me out.” 

Again Takaki wanted to roll his eyes but he couldn’t take them off of the road while he was driving. He settled for declaring, “I’m never taking you anywhere ever again.” 

“Did I… miss something important while I was in the bathroom?” Inoo asked…

 

Takaki was out on the road again, having made only a brief stop at the gas station. He remembered that it had taken Hikaru another five hours before running out of car-related puns, and even Inoo had gotten so annoyed that he banned Hikaru from speaking. In hindsight, that had been a fun, if not weird, day. 

He continued following the signs on the highway until they directed him towards more rural roads. There was a hint of salt in the air, and he smiled once he realized that he had driven to a beach purely by chance. After a few more minutes, Takaki was also pleasantly surprised as he realized that he’d been down this exact same road before. It had been a year ago and he had been doing the same thing as he was now: picking a random place to drive to. Only Yamada had been with him on that day and they’d run into a slight bit of trouble…

 

“Thanks for taking me with you,” Yamada said from the passenger seat. He had an old slightly-crumpled map spread out on his lap and he was tracing the colorful roads with his finger. 

“Well it’s not often we both have the same day off of work, especially while we’re both filming dramas. So I feel like it’s gonna be a good day.” Takaki navigated the car down the winding road that was taking them towards the beach. They had left the crowded city behind and everything felt so much more open out here. He was right in the middle of filming _Suikyuu Yankees_ and Yamada was filming _Kindaichi_ , so they welcomed a break from all the craziness they’d dealt with lately. 

“Are we turning soon? I haven’t seen any signs lately,” Takaki asked as he gave a friendly wave to stranger on a bicycle as they drove past. 

Yamada picked the map up, holding it closer to his face as it flapped in the wind. Takaki had asked him earlier why he insisted on using an old-fashioned map instead of a GPS, and he explained that he just wanted to take a break from technology for a bit. 

“I think there’ll be a right turn up ahead soon.” Yamada squinted at the tiny print on the map. 

“Good work Detective,” Takaki teased, looking around for the upcoming road. 

“I’m not a detective today,” Yamada insisted. “We’re on break, remember? I mean, how would you like to keep wearing a speedo and stuff while you’re not working.” 

“We _are_ going to the beach after all,” Takaki laughed, “so it’s really a moot point. We could even play water polo there if you absolutely wanted to. But you’re right. We’re not working today.” 

But the good mood in the car was immediately replaced with confusion when they suddenly began hearing a weird noise. The car began to shake and Takaki gripped the steering wheel tightly with concern. He slowed down and pulled off to the side of the road. 

“I think you have a flat tire,” Yamada said, and Takaki immediately scowled. “Ah, there’s that trademark Torao angry face. I thought you just said we weren’t working today.” Yamada was trying to brighten up the situation. 

They both got out and examined the car. The back right wheel was indeed a lumpy deflated mess. Takaki hated to see something wrong with his precious convertible but at least he was prepared for stuff like this. With some careful maneuvering and some help from Yamada, he managed to get his spare tire out of the trunk. Now the only problem was switching out the bad tire for the good one. 

“I’m not quite sure how to do this,” Takaki said while holding the tire jack in one hand and a wrench in the other. “You?” 

“If only I was a real detective,” Yamada sighed wistfully, and then he laughed out loud. “You have a how-to manual in your trunk, you know.” 

After much trial and error, the two of them managed to replace the flat tire with the spare one. It was actually quite simple once they’d figured out how to loosen and tighten the bolts attaching the wheel to the car. Yamada was very proud that they managed to do it all without having to resort to frantically searching the internet for guidance. And Takaki felt much better now that his convertible was running smoothly again. 

It still took them two hours, however, before they made it to the beach since they discovered that Yamada’s map was horribly outdated and some of the roads they were suppose to travel on had been closed. But the ride gave them time to talk about fun things. Takaki even attempted to explain the finer points of water polo. Yamada had only been able to half-listen because he was busy wrestling with the map, trying to get it to fold up to its original shape. When they finally made it to the beach, Takaki took the map and folded it up effortlessly and correctly. 

“How did you do that so easily?” 

“It’s a _mystery_ ,” Takaki teased. He wasn’t about to ruin the moment and admit to years of practice…

 

Takaki was content with the memories that had been swirling around in his head all day long as he continued to drive by himself. He’d had a lot of good and strange times with his friends while driving his convertible. But he also appreciated the freedom of just driving by himself sometimes too. He had followed his instincts and ended up at the beach as always. 

He and the convertible rested in a sandy parking lot overlooking the waves breaking against the shore. The radio was turned off now so the only sound was the hum of the car’s engine mixed with the constant quiet roar of the ocean. His sunglasses were still perched on his face and the wind still fluttered through his hair without any regard for the time he’d put into styling it early this morning. 

With a happy smile, he patted the dashboard like he always did and thought about all the wonderful places his car would continue to take him.

**Author's Note:**

> PSA: it's generally a good idea to learn how to change a flat tire. Just saying. I might be speaking from experience. 
> 
> /whispers: I am definitely speaking from experience


End file.
